We are taking a much needed vacation. I am so looking forward to uninterrupted time with my husband and kids. No school, no sewing machines - just family and new memories. I will be back to it on January 6th when the kids go back to school. This is where we are heading.
Asheville, NC
Gatlinburg, TN
I did do Christmas sewing for the kids and it was a race against the clock. I always make them a fleece blanket and pajamas.
For the fleece blanket, there is no pattern. 2.5 yd of 2 different fleeces - usually a Christmas pattern for one and a solid coordinate for the other. On the solid in one corner on a diagonal. I embroider their name and Christmas and the year. Then, its lay them out on the floor right sides together, pin, pin, pin, sew all the way around leaving about a 3" opening, clip the corners, inside it all out poking out the corners with a chopstick, then handsew the opening. Boom - Christmas blankie.
For the pajamas, I used this pattern for the pants
We had our first Christmas family dinner last night with my husband's family. My husband has lost almost all of his family and at 38 is the oldest person in his family. All we really have left on his side are his 2 younger brothers, their wives and children. He does have one aunt and uncle who live in coastal Alabama, but he doesn't really see them or his cousins on that side often. So, last night, we had quite the hootenanny with a delicious Honey Baked Ham http://www.honeybakedham.com/, some dressing, corn casserole. green bean casserole, croissants, and yummy desserts. Then we had an awesome present swap of which even my cats got in on! This was my first year hosting Christmas dinner and I was all stressed out about it all week, but I think it turned out okay!
Check out our family fun!
By the way, the one below is me - just sayin' :)
Tommy iz tired out!
Rockin the Rainbow loom bracelet!
Hope you are enjoying these holidays with fun and family. All the best and till next time!
So tomorrow will be our last Christmas party in Elementary school *sniff sniff*. She gets to wear pajamas tomorrow, and while I offered to make her some, she decided she wanted to go twinsies with one of her BFFs and get some footie frog pajamas at Walmart. Speaking of Pajamas - have you seen this video?
Well, since this is my last day of school sewing for this calendar year, I wanted to bring you something classic and beautiful AND it just so happened that one of our talented tween designers was looking to test an expansion to a classic and beautiful dress - match made in heaven. I have featured Foo Foo Threads here several times. You can see her whole pattern collection here https://www.etsy.com/shop/FooFooThreads. Now, most of her patterns only go to a 10, but her size 10 pattern typically fits my size 12 29" chest child. The Victorian Romance dress is already released as a pattern but it will be re-releasing up to the size 10 with some new options. You now will be able to have a gathered sleeve, the option of an elastic casing back, and a beautiful full underskirt. You can see the current version here https://www.etsy.com/shop/FooFooThreads
I was inspired by one of the Victorian Romance testers from the first version who did a beautiful Mrs. Claus rendition. I followed suit and added the white full underskirt and embellished my bodice in Claus style with black velvet ribbon and white buttons. This is not a one hour sew, but it is SO beautiful. In this size 10, you have your hands full with a lot of gathering, but you know what a lot of gathering gets you? A lot of twirl and ruffles. I think this is a great pattern for an adventurous beginner. I think you can make this in so many ways with fancy fabrics or beautifully coordinating ones.
I present to you, our 67th outfit, our last school outfit for 2013 - The Foo Foo Threads Victorian Romance New Version size 10. Inspiration - Mrs. Claus.
If you and your family will be going on blog hiatus for the holidays, let me take this opportunity to say Merry Christmas and I wish you all a blessed and prosperous 2014. Just because school is out, I will still be posting. I hope to have another tutorial before Christmas and we will be travelling over the break, so I will be sharing pictures and stories from the road.
As this is the halfway point of the school year, I just want to thank all of you for the support I have received for this blog. I had this crazy idea to sew all of my daughter's clothes this school year and so far, it has happened - through a fractured shoulder, late night sewing, and general life. I have had so many people contact me saying that this project has inspired them - some it has inspired to start sewing, some have picked up sewing after a long time, and some are TEACHING their tween to sew. Sewing has been such a blessing for me. I have 3 college degrees that I feel reflect nothing about who I am. Sewing and design are a passion for me. I think about some facet of sewing all of the time! It saddens me to see this labelled a "dying" art. It gives me such joy to hear people coming here wanting to have some part in its resuscitation. 2014 is going to be a fantastic year and I hope you will continue to visit and carry on this path with me.
